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NEWS OF THE WORLD
28th September 2003

TRAGIC Frank Bruno's best friend last night told how the troubled boxing hero left home for hospital in an ambulance-with gentle dignity and head held high. Frank's ex-minder Cass Pennant exclusively gave the first detailed account of what REALLY happened when the former world heavyweight champ was sectioned under the Mental Health Act on Monday. He said: "I told Frank there was an ambulance or a police car - and that he had to leave in one of them. I said he owed it to himself and his family to go with his respect fully intact in the ambulance. And he agreed." Cass, 45, was at the troubled 41-year-old's side when he left his home in Stondon Massey, Essex, for Goodmayes Hospital, East London. And the ex-minder says reports of a four-hour siege with cops were completely incorrect. He stressed that Frank AGREED to go to the hospital in the ambulance. He added: "I'm only speaking out because of all the lies that have been said about Frank in the last week. I want to set the record straight. There was no siege. Frank was persuaded to go voluntarily into the ambulance. He's not a violent man in any way." Cass added: "When the ambulance arrived, Frank turned on the charm with the crew. He was trying to persuade them that he didn't need treatment. Later in the afternoon a police car arrived with three officers. These guys were brilliant-not forceful at all. They should be used in hostage situations. Frank again laid on the charm. TACTIC He took the guys out to the marquee in the garden where he has the exact boxing ring in which he defeated Oliver McCall to win the WBA title in 1995. The officers said: "We've always really admired you, Frank." They even threw a medicine ball around the ring with him. We knew he was using this as a delaying tactic. But it was also his way of saying to the officers: "Do I look mad?" I made sure his housekeeper disabled his cars by taking the keys so that he couldn't do a runner. Frank kept coming up with new excuses to slow things. He said: "I can't go, I haven't got any clothes."

Then he said: "Why don't I drive myself down to the hospital?" He also said he would voluntarily submit to treatment at a place he knew in Scotland. Two women social workers who had gone to the house were getting impatient by this time. Time was running out for Frank. I desperately wanted him to leave that house with dignity rather than be taken forcibly. I knew we had to coax him into the back of the ambulance and not have him driven away in the back of a squad car. Frank delayed things further by having a shower. But we finally persuaded him to get in the back of the ambulance. It was around 6pm by then, four hours after I had arrived. I was mentally drained. It had been such a tense afternoon. Nobody can ever say Frank was dragged out of his own home-he went of his own accord. I went with him and his ex-wife Laura in the ambulance to the hospital. Frank was still raging at the decision, saying: "Can anyone tell me what I've done?" There were never any tears from Frank-just this overwhelming sense of his wounded pride. It was as if he had been knocked down in the ring in the 12th and final round. He was completely bewildered by the whole thing. We stayed at the hospital with him until around 10pm that night. None of the nurses wore uniforms there, so it was all very confusing. We didn't know whether they were staff or star-gazers, curious at seeing Frank in there. They tried to strip Frank, but he stayed in his tracksuit. They were explaining the procedures there. He quickly worked out that, though you could move freely around the hospital, the corridors were locked. I left him with a book-More Than A Hero. It's a series of sayings by Mohammed Ali compiled by his daughter Hana. The next day Frank's children Nicola, 20, Rachel, 16, and Franklyn, seven, came to see him with Laura. I didn't go back to the hospital till Wednesday. He was still very angry and was going on about the lack of respect accorded to him. He was talking about appealing against his sectioning. His speech was slurred from the medication he was receiving. There was a meeting that night at which Frank's whole future was discussed, which I attended along with Laura and his doctors."

Out of respect for Frank's privacy, Cass, of Sydenham, south London, will not reveal any details of what doctors told the boxer. Cass said Frank became ill earlier this year after finishing panto. The boxer, who retired in 1996 after losing his title to Mike Tyson, was sent reeling by his 2001 split from Laura. She and the children-pictured right-moved to a village three miles away. Frank first checked into the Priory in Chelmsford, Essex, 11 weeks ago. He went into the hospital but left after a day claiming he was OK. But the star-famous for his "Know wot I mean 'Arry" catchprase later went back for blood tests and progress checks. He has been taking lithium pills for three months to cope with his mood swings. The News of the World told in July that friends, including promoter Frank Warren, feared Bruno could be hospitalised. His condition worsened and friends began to realise he might need to be sectioned for his own good. Cass remembers going to his house and seeing a raw chicken on the sideboard in the kitchen. It had been there FOUR DAYS.When a pal picked it up, a swarm of flies flew out of it. Cass said: "I knew that Frank couldn't look after himself." Doctors gave Frank a two-week deadline to show that he could cope on his own and manage his own medication. That deadline ended on Monday. Sad Frank had shown little progress, so two social workers arrived at his home at about 11am. Frank got straight on the phone to Cass and pleaded with him to come round. He told his pal: "There are a lot of sneaky people doing sneaky things on my land. Can you come round and make sense of it?" Cass said: "It was always going to be a very difficult situation. Frank is very, very proud of his home. He once told me, 'They'd need an army to get me out of here.' "But I knew that Frank is not violent and if we did it right, we could coax him into going to the hospital. "Frank looked as fit as a lion, as he always does. But you could tell from his face that he really did need help. "He just wanted to ignore what was going on and took me to what he calls his music garage-a little room where he practises DJ-ing.

DOCTOR "Frank said to me, 'What's happening? They (the social workers) are in my house?' Frank was in complete denial and decided he wanted to go for a walk. He's got 75 acres there and he wanted to go to a tranquil little spot in the woods. "Frank said to me, 'I haven't harmed anyone. Why are people coming here? Why is my ex-wife here?' "He kept insisting, 'No one's going to take me from here. It ain't gonna happen. Laura tried to persuade him to go and then Frank ended up in quite a heated exchange with the social workers. He said to them, 'What powers do you have to do this to me? I haven't seen a doctor. Who's signed for this?' He felt he wasn't being handled with the respect he deserved. "On Monday Frank had been due to attend an engagement with Fiona Phillips of GMTV at Great Ormond Street Hospital for sick children. "Frank doesn't like letting people down and he kept saying, 'I should be at Great Ormond Street. Can we do this later?'. "He kept really worrying about letting people down and wanting to help other people who are ill, which shows what a good man he is." He added: "There was an incident involving Frank on Wednesday night-but it has been blown out of proportion. It was just a difference of opinion over his treatment and quickly blew over." Cass added: "His sister Joan, who has been instrumental in ensuring that Frank receives the treatment he needs, told me that he was responding to the medication. "It has just taken him three days to adjust to his new environment. We are very hopeful now that he can start making rapid progress." Cass said Frank started to make "real progress" on Thursday." And the whole nation will be delighted by the news.

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